In 2017, HRF established a partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation to bring the Oslo Freedom Forum to South Africa in 2018, the 100th anniversary of Mandela’s birth. A copy of the program is available here.
The event linked OFF’s existing network with new partners to strengthen human rights and civil liberties in Africa and beyond. OFFinJoburg featured riveting talks, world-class networking, interactive exhibits, music, comedy, and conversations between courageous dissidents and leaders from business, philanthropy, technology, policy, and media.
Speakers at OFFinJoburg included Zimbabwean civil rights activist and #ThisFlag movement leader Evan Mawarire, former Maldivian president and environmental activist Mohamed Nasheed, Moroccan-born French free expression advocate and journalist Zineb El Rhazoui, Arab Spring writer and journalist Iyad el-Baghdadi, Chinese-Canadian actress and human rights activist Anastasia Lin, Angolan investigative journalist Rafael Marques de Morais, Eritrean information activist and refugee rescuer Meron Estefanos, Malawian girls’ rights activist Memory Banda, Somali psychotherapist and anti-FGM activist Leyla Hussein, and Egyptian actor and LGBT rights activist Omar Sharif Jr., among others.
OFFinJoburg was made possible through the support of the John Templeton Foundation and Mann Made Media, with media support provided by The Mail & Guardian and Kaya FM.
The Oslo Freedom Forum conference series is produced by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. The 10th annual Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway will take place on May 28-30, 2018 and the Oslo Freedom Forum in New York will take place on September 17, 2018.